Anglicans have been gathering for worship in the Diocese of Masasi, in Southern Tanzania, since the 1850s. They have planted 230 churches, launched two schools and four medical clinics, and they operate programs with help from local and international agencies that dig wells, plant trees, and feed hungry people across the rural region they serve.
Masasi’s Anglicans now face a new challenge: paying their own way.
Since British missionaries from the Anglo-Catholic Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) first came to the area, seminary training, diocese central office operating costs, new construction, mission projects—nearly all the costs of the diocese’s work—have been covered by external donations.
The diocese’s central office budget is approximately $10,000 per month, and about 60 percent of this was covered by grants from outside the diocese, mostly from the United Society Partners in the Gospel, the U.K.-based successor ministry to the UMCA.
Until last year, perhaps another 20 percent was met by a 20 percent assessment on congregational offerings. Salaries went unpaid.
As congregations in the Global North are shrinking, those external funding sources are drying up. But the diocese’s bishop, the Rt. Rev. James Almasi, believes that the 40,000 Anglicans under his care, mostly small-scale farmers, are ready for the challenge of giving more.
“We are living through a generational change in our global Church. The traditional expectation of our congregations has been that we will be financially sustained by outsiders. This worked for a long time, as United Kingdom missionary societies and churches were themselves more prosperous and supported friends throughout the Anglican Communion,” Almasi said.
With support from donors in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church, the diocese launched a stewardship campaign in 2024, focused on educating church members about the needs of financial stewardship and inspiring them to rise to the challenge.
The diocese has set a goal for 2025 of raising at least 50 percent of its general income directly from its members. Alongside preaching and teaching about stewardship to raise more in Sunday collections, the diocese aims to make its schools and clinics turn a profit.
“If the Masasi Stewardship Strategy is successful, we would like to share our work more broadly. Our ambition is that the Diocese of Masasi can play a part in meeting the challenges that will shape the future of our church for generations to come,” the bishop says.
The challenge of such fundraising is intense. The World Inequality Index calculates the average income for an adult in Tanzania in 2023 at just over U.S. $5,000, though rural Tanzanians are generally poorer.
According to a 2020 Anker Research Institute study, 31.3 percent of rural Tanzanian families have incomes below the national poverty line of $84.51 a month, which the institute says is less than half of a living wage.
“The harsh economic realities notwithstanding, we are encouraged by the rise in overall giving to an average of US $2,500 per month. We expect this to average US $5,000 per month by the end of this year,” the bishop said.
The diocese partnered with the Rev. Canon Leslie Francis of the World Religions and Education Research Unit at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln, England, to design a survey for leaders across the diocese. The survey assessed how faith shapes daily life, how cultural traditions coexist with Christian belief, and how the church can remain a vital force in community life.
It was based on the Church-24 Survey, a longitudinal study of church life in the United Kingdom, which Francis helped design. The pilot study in December 2024 engaged 165 respondents across 11 parishes, with 15 participants per parish, and included proportionate numbers of men and women. Sixty-five percent of respondents were between the ages of 20 and 50—the demographic core of the diocese’s population.
Almasi has begun preaching about financial stewardship during each parish visitation, with some congregations showing sustained interest in the program throughout the liturgical calendar. Special appeals are planned for Mothering Sunday, March 30.
“Periodic surveys will form ongoing part of stewardship, backed with targeted marketing towards underperforming parishes based on insights from our 2024 survey, which revealed that while many people’s income is seasonal, a monthly tithe of TZS 1,000 ($0.40) per month is affordable,” he said.
“We think congregations will give generously when they see that they benefit. The challenge has been to sell the idea that individual parishes will benefit over the long term from a financially robust diocese. We also hope to attract donors’ generous giving by telling the story of the diocese regularly and by providing reports on stewardship to demonstrate transparency.”
Diocesan officials hope that an increased focus on stewardship will also help them advance toward a series of centenary goals outlined to guide their ministry as they approach the 100th anniversary of the diocese’s founding in 2026.
In addition to greater financial sustainability, these goals include expanding the number of clergy serving the diocese’s churches from 55 to at least 75, completing the construction of St. Catherine’s, a girls boarding school at Tunduru, and ensuring that all four of the diocese’s medical dispensaries have an operating surplus and will not require continued external support.
The diocese also hopes to increase the sustainability of its transformative development arm, which has been partnering with Christian NGO World Vision to introduce financially sustainable poverty alleviation interventions across the diocese.
“Development work is carried out by the Diocese of Masasi Development Organization, which has its own budget but still within the umbrella of the diocese, specifically raised for and dedicated to poverty alleviation under their WASH+ approach,” the bishop said. “It is not money that could be diverted to parish work, for example.”
He added: “Parish work is managed at the parish level and the diocese is working on improving skills and reporting of parish level finance people. Financial capacity-building at parish level is part of the stewardship strategy.”
Survey analysis has revealed that Rondo Junior Seminary, a boys boarding school on the Rondo Plateau founded in 1953 by former bishop and anti-apartheid activist Trevor Huddleston, is especially treasured by the people of the diocese. Rondo’s classrooms and dormitories were recently refurbished, and enrollment is up by 60 students, under the leadership of its new rector, the Rev. Linus Buriani, a recent graduate of McGill University in Montreal.
“We are dedicated to holistic education, aiming to develop well-rounded individuals rather than focusing solely on academics, athletics, or culture,” Almasi said. The school’s mission is to “help each boy discover his unique path while fostering a supportive environment for growth and exploration.”
Philip Stubbings of the Grille Foundation, a longtime partner of the diocese in development, praised the stewardship effort: “The Masasi Survey Project provides a window into this dynamic diocese, revealing not only the challenges faced but the resilience and creativity of faith communities adapting to a changing world.
“By understanding these stories and patterns, the Diocese of Masasi offers insights not only for its leadership but for partner churches, inviting all to see how faith continues to unite, inspire and transform lives.”
For more information
- The Masasi stewardship strategy
- The Masasi Survey Project
- The Diocese of Masasi’s development work
Jesse Masai is TLC’s East Africa correspondent, a longtime journalist and communications professional who has worked in South East Asia and the U.S., as well as in his native Kenya.
